Research project: Everyday Living Interiors — v2 website evaluation
Participant: Kwame Asante, 28, junior logistics coordinator, Rotterdam
Date: 1 June 2026
Format: One-on-one synthetic persona interview
Duration: Approximately 22 minutes
Interviewer note: Kwame was friendly throughout, easy to talk to, and engaged when directly prompted. His disengagement from the subject matter is not hostility — it is genuine unfamiliarity. Interior design does not exist as a category in his life. His responses were most revealing when he spoke about what his room means to him (very little) and when he described who he thinks design services are for (not him). The before-and-after content and the zero-budget transformations were the only elements that produced a visible shift in attention.
Introduction
Interviewer: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I'm conducting research on behalf of an interior design service, and I'd love to get your honest perspective. There are no right or wrong answers here — I'm genuinely interested in your reactions, even if they're negative or uncertain. Critical feedback is just as valuable as positive feedback. I'll start by asking you a few questions about your current living situation and how you think about your home. Then I'll walk you through this service's website and ask for your reactions. The whole conversation should take about twenty to twenty-five minutes. Does that sound all right?
Kwame: Yeah, sure. I'll be honest, when they told me it was about interior design, I was like — me? Really? But yeah, happy to help.
Interviewer: That reaction is useful in itself. And really, the most helpful thing you can do is be completely honest — I'm not the person who created this, so you won't hurt anyone's feelings.
Kwame: Cool, cool. No worries.
Section 1: Context setting
Interviewer: So tell me a bit about your current living situation — your home, who you live with, and how you generally feel about the space you're in.
Kwame: Okay so I rent a room in a shared flat in Rotterdam-West. It's me and two other guys — a Dutch guy who's doing IT at uni, and a Polish guy who works in a warehouse. We share the kitchen and the bathroom and there's like a living room area with a sofa someone got off Marktplaats. My room is... I mean it's fine. It's a room. I've got my bed, my desk, my gaming chair, wardrobe. It does what it needs to do.
Interviewer: When you walk through your front door at the end of the day, what's the first thing you notice?
Kwame: Honestly? Whether one of my flatmates left dishes in the sink. That's about it. Sometimes it smells like whatever someone's been cooking. I just go straight to my room, drop my bag, maybe change out of my work clothes. I don't really notice the space itself. It's just... the place I come back to.
Interviewer: Is there anything about your room that frustrates you, or that you wish were different?
Kwame: pauses I mean, it's small. Fifteen square metres or something. And the light is kind of harsh — it's just this ceiling light, like a fluorescent one, very flat. Sometimes when I'm on a video call with friends they're like, bro, why does your room look like a hospital. But I don't know, it's not really something I think about. It's temporary, you know? I'm not going to be here forever.
Interviewer: How much time and energy do you typically spend thinking about how your room looks or feels?
Kwame: Zero. Genuinely zero. I mean, not to be rude, but I've never once sat in my room and thought about how it looks. I think about whether my clothes are clean, whether my phone is charged, whether I need to go to the gym. The room is just the room.
Interviewer: That's not rude at all — it's exactly the kind of honest answer I'm looking for. Have you ever considered getting help with your room — from a designer, a friend with good taste, an app, anything?
Kwame: laughs No. No, definitely not. That's not — I mean, that's not a thing for someone like me. Interior design is for people who own a house, you know? Or like, couples who are moving in together and want to make it nice. It's not for a guy renting a room in a shared flat.
Interviewer: When you hear the words "interior designer," what comes to mind?
Kwame: I think of those TV shows. Like a woman with glasses walking into a house and saying, "We're going to open up this space." Big budgets, nice houses, everything white and grey and perfect. Maybe someone on Instagram with a lot of followers showing off their living room. It's a world that exists, but it's not my world. It's like... you know when you walk past a jewellery shop? You know what they sell, but you're not going in. You don't need to.
Interviewer: Do you feel that interior design services are something that's available to people in your situation?
Kwame: Not really, no. I mean, I'm sure if I paid someone they'd come and look at my room, but it would be... it would be weird, wouldn't it? A fifteen-square-metre room in a shared flat? What are they going to do, rearrange the bed? I think you need a certain kind of life before that stuff becomes relevant. Like, your own place, some money, maybe a partner. I'm not there yet.
Section 2: Concept presentation
Interviewer: That's really helpful context. So now I'd like to tell you about a specific service. It's called Everyday Living Interiors. It's run by a woman named Sara de Abreu, based in Diemen, near Amsterdam. Let me walk you through what you'd see if you visited her website.
The first thing you see is a photo of a real, lived-in kitchen — wooden cabinets, a table with a half-drunk coffee and children's schoolwork, and in the background a living room where someone has clearly put thought into how things are arranged, but it's not staged or perfect. It looks like a real home.
Over this image, a large heading reads: "Your home should support your life, not compete with it." Below that: "Practical, affordable interior design for real homes and real budgets. Based in Diemen. Serving Amsterdam and beyond."
There are two buttons: "See services and pricing" and "Not sure where to start?"
Scrolling down, you come to a short section on a warm grey background. The heading says: "Wherever you're starting from, that's okay." And below it, a paragraph that reads: "Some people come to me because they're excited about a new home. Others come because they're stuck — because their space feels wrong and they don't know why, because they've just been through a big life change, because they're embarrassed about how their home looks, or because they and their partner can't agree on anything. None of that is unusual, and none of it is a problem. I've helped people start from all of those places. Yours is valid too."
Next comes a section called "What I can help you with," showing four services with prices clearly listed:
The Room Reset — eighty euros. A virtual consultation where you send photos of your room beforehand, meet online for sixty to ninety minutes, and receive a written follow-up with layout suggestions, colour guidance, and product recommendations.
The Thoughtful Edit — one hundred fifty euros per room. Sara comes to your home and transforms your space using only what you already own. You receive before-and-after photos and a written guide explaining what was changed and why. Amsterdam area only.
The Design Roadmap — from two hundred fifty euros. A complete written plan including a moodboard, colour palette, floor plan, lighting recommendations, and a shopping list with links and price ranges at different budget levels.
The Living Space Plan — from five hundred forty euros per room. Full interior design from concept to completion, including 3D visualisations, sourcing, and styling support.
Below the services it says: "Extra time if needed: forty euros per hour. All prices include VAT."
Then there's a section specifically for couples. The heading reads: "Do you and your partner have different styles?" It says: "You're not the first couple to disagree about the coffee table. Or the curtains. Or everything. Design disagreements are one of the most common reasons people reach out to me — and they're one of my favourite projects. I help couples find a shared language for their home, where both people see themselves reflected. No compromises that make everyone equally unhappy. Real solutions that honour both of you."
Below that is a "Not sure which service is right for you?" section with three simple paths:
"I just need a push" leads to The Room Reset at eighty euros.
"I want to use what I already have" leads to The Thoughtful Edit at one hundred fifty per room.
"I want a full plan" leads to The Design Roadmap from two hundred fifty euros.
And: "Still not sure? Send me a photo of your space and I'll tell you where I'd start. No obligation."
The portfolio shows before-and-after transformations of real homes with visible budgets — for example, "Family living room, budget under two hundred euros" or "Studio apartment, existing furniture only, zero euros spent" or "A couple who loved minimalism and maximalism equally." You can see the messy, cluttered "before" next to the transformed "after."
In the About section, Sara shares that she's always made beautiful spaces, even when she had no money. She says: "I know what it's like to start over in a new country, to furnish a flat on a budget, to make a rental feel like home. I know what it's like to look at a room and feel overwhelmed, or stuck, or secretly embarrassed. And I know that sometimes the hardest thing about your home isn't how it looks — it's what it represents."
She also explains her approach: she starts with how you live, not a style. She works with what you have. She explains every decision — she never says "trust the process." And she specifically mentions working with couples with different tastes as one of her favourite challenges.
The contact page has a form, email, and WhatsApp options, plus a "Just want a quick opinion?" option where you can send a photo of your space and get Sara's honest first impression for free.
At the very bottom of every page: "Whether you're starting from scratch or building on what you've already created — you belong here."
That's the full website. Take a moment to let that settle.
Pause. Kwame is quiet for several seconds.
Kwame: I mean... it sounds nice. It's like — she's clearly trying to make it approachable, right? The prices are lower than I expected, I'll give her that.
Section 3: Initial reactions and belonging
Interviewer: What's your first, honest reaction to what I just described?
Kwame: My honest reaction is that it's not for me. But it's nicer than I thought it would be. When you said interior design, I pictured something really different — like sleek, expensive, kind of intimidating. This sounds more... normal, I guess? More human. The prices surprised me. Eighty euros is not nothing, but it's not crazy either. I thought you were going to say like five hundred minimum just to talk to someone.
Interviewer: What stood out to you most — positively or negatively?
Kwame: The "zero euros spent" thing in the portfolio. That caught my attention. Like, someone's apartment was transformed and they didn't spend anything? That's interesting. I want to see that. I want to see the before and after. Because if you told me you could make my room better without spending money, I'd be like... okay, show me. I'm sceptical but curious.
Also the "your home should support your life, not compete with it" line — that's kind of cool. I don't really think about my room in those terms at all, but the idea that your space is supposed to help you and not be another thing you have to deal with — I can see how that would hit for some people.
Interviewer: Did anything surprise you?
Kwame: The prices being right there on the website. Most services I've looked at for anything — not design, just in general — they always say "contact us for a quote." It's annoying. So the fact that she just puts it there... that's good. You know what you're getting into. And yeah, eighty euros for a ninety-minute session with a follow-up PDF — I expected way more. Like I said, I thought interior design was a thousand-plus kind of thing.
Interviewer: How does this compare to what you expected when I said "interior design service"?
Kwame: Completely different. I expected some website with white marble countertops and fancy sofas, something that screams "this is expensive and you probably can't afford it." This sounds like someone who would actually look at your IKEA bed and not judge you for it. I mean, I still don't think it's for me, specifically, but it's different from what I imagined.
Interviewer: Based on what you've heard, who do you think this service is designed for? Describe that person.
Kwame: Hmm. I think it's for... a woman, probably. Somewhere between twenty-five and forty-five. Maybe she just moved into a new place, or she's been living somewhere for a while and it's not feeling right. She has some money, not a lot, but she's willing to spend a bit to make things better. Probably has her own apartment, not a shared flat. Maybe a couple — the website seems to talk a lot about couples. So yeah, a woman, or a couple, in their own place, with a bit of budget and the desire to make it nice.
Interviewer: Do you see yourself as that person?
Kwame: laughs No. I mean, I'm a twenty-eight-year-old guy in a rented room. I don't even have my own kitchen. The website isn't hostile or anything — it's not like I'd feel attacked — but I just wouldn't see myself in it. There's no one on there who looks like my situation. A guy with a MALM bed and bare walls who spends eighty percent of his time outside the house.
Interviewer: What specifically makes you feel excluded?
Kwame: It's not one thing, it's everything. The whole premise is "your home matters, let's make it better." And I agree that's a nice idea, but my room is not my home. My home is... I don't know, wherever my people are. The gym, my parents' house, out with friends. My room is where I charge my phone and sleep. So the whole idea doesn't connect to my life right now.
And the imagery you described — kitchens, living rooms, families, couples. I don't have any of those things. If there was a before-and-after of a room like mine — just a small room with a bed and a desk — maybe I'd pause. But I don't think that exists in her portfolio.
Interviewer: The tagline is "Your home should support your life, not compete with it." What does that mean to you? Does it resonate?
Kwame: It makes sense. I get the concept. My room doesn't compete with my life because I don't ask anything of it. It's just... there. But I can imagine someone who has a cluttered flat with kids' stuff everywhere, and they come home and it feels stressful — for that person, yeah, the tagline would hit. It's about your space either adding to your life or being another burden.
Interviewer: Can you think of a moment when your space felt like it was competing with your life rather than supporting it?
Kwame: thinks There's this one thing. My lighting. The fluorescent light. When I'm trying to chill in the evening — like watching something on my laptop, or just decompressing after work — the light is really harsh. It makes the room feel like a break room at work. I once bought a little clip-on lamp for my desk because the overhead light was too much for late-night gaming. So maybe... that's a small version of what the tagline means? Like, the lighting is working against what I'm trying to do in that moment. I never thought of it as a "design" thing though. I just thought my room had bad lighting.
Interviewer: That's a really good example, actually. The fact that you bought the clip-on lamp — that's you solving a design problem without calling it design.
Kwame: Huh. I guess so. I never would have described it that way.
Section 4: Value, clarity, and pricing
Interviewer: Looking at the four services — The Room Reset, The Thoughtful Edit, The Design Roadmap, and The Living Space Plan — can you tell me in your own words what each one involves?
Kwame: Okay, so The Room Reset — that's like a video call where she looks at your room and tells you what to change. You get a PDF with ideas afterwards. The Thoughtful Edit — she actually comes to your house and moves your stuff around to make it better, using only what you've got. The Design Roadmap — that's a bigger plan, like a whole document with colours and a shopping list and all that. And The Living Space Plan is the full thing where she does everything for you, like a proper renovation project.
Interviewer: Which of those would be most relevant to your situation right now, and why?
Kwame: If anything... The Room Reset, I guess? It's the cheapest, it's online, and it doesn't require buying stuff. But honestly, even that feels like a lot for what I'd need. Like, my room is one bed, one desk, one chair, a wardrobe. There's not a lot to reset. It would be a five-minute call. "Move the desk to the other wall. Buy a lamp. Done."
Interviewer: Is there anything about these names or descriptions that confuses you?
Kwame: Not really confused, but "The Thoughtful Edit" — I wouldn't know what that means without the description. It sounds like a writing thing. Like editing an essay. Once you explain it, it's clear. But if I just saw the name I'd scroll past it.
Interviewer: The website lists specific deliverables for each service — a PDF plan, a shopping list, before-and-after photos. Does knowing exactly what you'd receive make a difference?
Kwame: Yeah, actually. That's good. Because my question with any service is: what am I actually getting? If someone says "a consultation," that could be anything. But "a PDF with layout suggestions and product links" — that's concrete. You know what you're paying for. So yeah, that would make me take it more seriously.
Interviewer: The prices are visible on the website — eighty euros for The Room Reset, one hundred fifty per room for The Thoughtful Edit, from two hundred fifty for The Design Roadmap. What's your reaction to those prices?
Kwame: Lower than expected. Like I said, I thought interior design was expensive-expensive. Eighty euros is like... a pair of decent trainers. Or a night out. It's not nothing, but it's in the range of things I actually spend money on. The one-fifty and two-fifty are more, but for someone with a bigger place and more stuff, that's probably fair.
Interviewer: Before I walked you through this website, if someone had said "interior designer," what price range would you have assumed?
Kwame: At least a thousand. Probably more like two or three thousand. I thought that was the starting price just to walk through your door. Seriously, I had no idea you could get anything for under five hundred.
Interviewer: Do these prices make the service feel more accessible? Or do they raise any concerns — for example, about quality?
Kwame: More accessible for sure. I didn't think about quality, honestly. But now that you mention it... eighty euros is really cheap for a professional service. I wouldn't question it, but someone else might wonder if you get what you pay for. For me, though, the number is just lower than expected, and that's a good thing.
Interviewer: Does having prices visible on the website affect your trust in the service?
Kwame: One hundred percent. If the prices weren't there, I would assume it's expensive and leave. That's what I do with anything. If you hide the price, I assume I can't afford it. Putting it on the site is the right call.
Interviewer: The Thoughtful Edit says Sara transforms your space using only what you already own — no purchases required. How does that land with you?
Kwame: That's the most interesting one to me. Because the whole reason I don't think about my room is that I assume making it better means spending money. Buying furniture, buying stuff. And I don't want to do that for a rented room. But if someone could walk in and just move things around and it looks better? That's cool. I mean, I don't have a lot to work with — it's a bed and a desk — but the concept is interesting. It's like a constraint challenge. Work with what's there.
Interviewer: Do you believe that's possible — that your current space could be significantly improved without buying new things?
Kwame: For my room, specifically? I'm not sure. There's not much to work with. But for someone with more furniture and more space — a living room full of stuff that doesn't match — yeah, I believe it. I've seen those TikToks where someone rearranges a room and it looks completely different. So I know it's possible. Whether it would work in a tiny room with five pieces of furniture... I'd have to see it.
Section 5: Emotional resonance and personal connection
Interviewer: The website has a section near the top that says "Wherever you're starting from, that's okay" — and mentions people coming from shame, life changes, embarrassment, or disagreements with a partner. How do you respond to that?
Kwame: It's nice. It's welcoming. But it doesn't speak to me, personally. Like, I'm not embarrassed about my room. I'm not ashamed of it. I just don't care about it, which is a different thing. The section sounds like it's for people who do care but feel bad — they know their home isn't right and it bothers them. That's not me. My room doesn't bother me because I've never expected it to be anything.
Interviewer: Does that feel genuine or performative?
Kwame: Genuine, I think. It doesn't feel like marketing-speak. It feels like someone who's actually had those conversations with people. The bit about "yours is valid too" — that's a personal touch. You can tell it's written by a person, not a brand. So yeah, genuine.
Interviewer: Is there anything in your own situation that that section speaks to?
Kwame: pauses Maybe the "stuck" part? Not that I feel stuck about my room, but... I've never thought about what my room could be, so in a way I am stuck — I just don't realise it. Like, if someone showed me what a fifteen-square-metre room could look like when someone actually puts thought into it, maybe I'd realise that what I have is pretty basic. But you can't miss what you've never seen, you know?
Interviewer: That's a really interesting way to put it.
Kwame: Yeah, I mean, it's like... before I got into fitness, I didn't know what eating well looked like. I just ate whatever. And then someone showed me, and I was like, oh, there's a whole system here that makes you feel way better. Maybe rooms are the same. I just haven't had that moment yet.
Interviewer: Sara shares that she knows what it's like to feel overwhelmed, stuck, or secretly embarrassed about her home — and that "sometimes the hardest thing about your home isn't how it looks, it's what it represents." How does that land?
Kwame: That's deep. I think that applies more to people in different life stages. Like someone going through a divorce, or someone who moved to a new country — your home is tied up with your identity and your situation. For me, my room doesn't represent much. It represents that I'm twenty-eight and renting in Rotterdam. It's practical, not emotional. But I can see how that line would be powerful for someone else.
Interviewer: Does knowing this about Sara — that she's experienced constraint, limited budget, starting over — make you more or less likely to trust her?
Kwame: More. Because she's not some rich person telling other rich people how to arrange their vases. She's been in the position of not having much and making it work. That gives her credibility. Especially the part about furnishing a flat on a budget and making a rental feel like home. That's literally what I would need if I ever cared about my room.
Interviewer: The website also shows design reasoning in its portfolio case studies — explaining why a shelf was moved, why certain colours work together, what spatial principle was applied. Does that affect how you perceive Sara's expertise?
Kwame: Yeah, that's good. It's like showing your working, not just the answer. If she just showed a nice picture, I'd be like, okay cool. But if she explains why the sofa moved there because of light angles or whatever — that shows she actually knows what she's doing. It's the difference between someone who guesses and someone who has a method.
Interviewer: Is it important to you that a designer can explain their thinking, or do you just want results?
Kwame: If I'm paying, I want to understand why. I'm like that with everything. At work, if someone tells me to change a shipping route, I want to know the reason. Same thing here. If you move my desk and I don't know why, I'm going to move it back in a week because the old spot felt familiar. But if you tell me "this spot gets more natural light and gives you more walking space," then I get it and I keep it there.
Interviewer: Does this combination of warmth and demonstrated expertise feel natural, or does one undermine the other?
Kwame: No, it works. She's not cold and technical, and she's not just vibes and no substance. She's like... a friend who actually knows things. That's a good combination. You trust her because she gets it emotionally, and you believe her because she can back it up with real reasoning.
Section 6: Barriers and action
Interviewer: Imagine you've just finished browsing this website on your phone. What would you do next — and be honest. Would you book a service, send a photo for a quick opinion, save the website for later, or close the tab?
Kwame: Close the tab. If I'm being completely honest, I'd close the tab. Not because there's anything wrong with the website. It's clearly well done. But it wouldn't have arrived in my world in the first place. I don't search for interior design. I don't follow design accounts. The only way I'd see this is if someone sent it to me, and even then, I'd look at it for maybe thirty seconds, think "this is nice but not for me," and close it.
Interviewer: What's the single biggest thing holding you back?
Kwame: It's not one thing, it's the entire frame. Interior design doesn't exist as a need in my life. It's not that the price is wrong or the website is bad — it's that the whole concept doesn't feel relevant to me. It's like showing me a great website for wedding planning. I'm sure it's great, but I'm not getting married.
Interviewer: Is there anything the website could add or change that would move you from "maybe" to "yes"?
Kwame: That's tough. I think... if there were content targeted at guys in my situation. Not the website itself — like, a TikTok or a short video. "Watch what happens when a designer walks into a twenty-eight-year-old's rented room for the first time." Show a room that looks like mine — IKEA bed, bare walls, fluorescent light — and then show what it looks like after. In like thirty seconds. That would get my attention. That would go viral in certain circles. But a website? I'm never going to find a website.
Interviewer: Would you share this website with someone else? Who, and why?
Kwame: My sister, actually. She just got a new apartment in The Hague and she's been stressing about furniture and decorating. She'd love this. The prices, the approach, the "wherever you're starting from" thing — that's perfect for her. She's exactly the kind of person who feels overwhelmed by her flat and would pay eighty euros for someone to tell her what to do. I'd send it to her for sure.
Interviewer: Interesting. So you wouldn't use it yourself but you'd recommend it.
Kwame: Yeah, because I can see the value. I just don't need the value right now. But I know people who do.
Interviewer: The website has a low-barrier option: "Send me a photo of your space and I'll tell you where I'd start — free, no obligation." Does that change anything for you?
Kwame: That's smart. Free is good. No obligation is good. Would I actually do it? Maybe. If I was bored one day and curious. Like, I can imagine a scenario where I'm lying in bed, I see the light is terrible, I remember this website, and I think, "You know what, let me just send her a photo and see what she says." There's no risk. But I'd need to remember the website exists, and right now nothing in my daily life would remind me.
Interviewer: What would stop you from using that option?
Kwame: Feeling weird about it. Like, I'd be sending a photo of my room to a stranger and admitting I care about it. That's... it sounds dumb but there's a barrier there. In my friend group, if I said "I sent my room photo to an interior designer for advice," they'd roast me. It's just not a thing that guys like me do. Or at least, it's not something we admit to doing.
Interviewer: That's not dumb at all — that's a real social barrier.
Kwame: Yeah. It's like the first time someone goes to a gym and feels like everyone's watching them. Except with design, the stigma is different. It's not about being a beginner, it's about... I don't know, it feels soft? Like, men don't care about cushions and colour palettes. I know that's a stereotype and it's probably wrong, but it's in my head.
Interviewer: Is there anything about your home, your life, or your relationship with design that this website still does not acknowledge — something that, if it did, would make you feel more seen?
Kwame: The temporary thing. Like, my whole living situation is temporary. I might move next year. I might be in this room for another six months. Everything about the website assumes you're investing in a place you're going to stay in. But what about people who are in transit? If there was something that said, "Even a temporary space can feel like yours," or "You don't need to own a home to deserve a good room" — that might click. Because the reason I don't invest in my room is that it doesn't feel permanent. But actually, I've been in this room for two years. That's longer than I expected. At some point, temporary becomes your actual life.
Interviewer: That's a really insightful observation.
Kwame: Thanks. I think that's the real barrier for a lot of young people, especially renters. We're all waiting for the "real" apartment — the own place, the grown-up life — before we start caring. But that might be years away. And in the meantime, we're living in rooms we don't give a thought to.
Interviewer: If Sara could add one more thing to this website that would make the difference for you specifically, what would it be?
Kwame: Video content. Short, fast, visual. A TikTok series where she walks into real rooms — messy rooms, small rooms, student rooms, rented rooms — and transforms them. Before and after. Under sixty seconds. Show the room that looks like mine, show what it becomes, and put the price at the end. That would reach me. The website is fine for people who already know they want help. But for people like me, you have to come to us. We're not going to come to you.
Closing
Interviewer: If a friend asked you "What is Everyday Living Interiors?", how would you describe it in one or two sentences?
Kwame: It's like... a design service for normal people. Someone who helps you make your home look better without spending crazy money, and she actually explains what she's doing instead of just being mysterious about it.
Interviewer: On a scale of one to ten, how likely would you be to recommend this website to someone you know who's struggling with their home?
Kwame: Seven. Maybe seven point five. The price is right, the approach is good, and the "send a photo for free" thing is a nice entry point. I'd recommend it to my sister, my cousin's wife, a couple of friends who've been talking about their apartments. I wouldn't recommend it to my boys, because they'd look at me funny. But for people who are already thinking about their home — yeah, seven point five.
Interviewer: What would move that number up?
Kwame: If I could see video proof. Like, a TikTok or Instagram reel I could send to someone and they'd watch it in thirty seconds and get it. Sending a website link is one thing. Sending a viral video of a room transformation is completely different. The video would do the selling that the website can't do for people who aren't already looking.
Interviewer: And for yourself — on a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to actually take action after seeing this website?
Kwame: Two. Maybe a two. And that's not a criticism — it's just where I am in life. I don't see my room as something that needs action. I see it as a place I sleep. If something changes — if I get my own apartment, if a girlfriend moves in, if I suddenly start caring — then that number jumps. But right now, it's a two.
Interviewer: What would move that number?
Kwame: Honestly, a life change. Getting my own place. Or even just seeing what's possible. If someone showed me a before-and-after of a room exactly like mine — same size, same IKEA furniture, same bare walls — and it looked amazing? That might be the thing. Because right now I can't visualise it. I don't know what better looks like for a room like mine. Show me, and maybe I'll care.
Interviewer: Is there anything we haven't talked about that you'd like to add?
Kwame: One thing. The whole website is clearly made for a certain audience, and that's fine — you can't be for everyone. But there's a huge number of young people, men especially, who have no relationship with their living space. And the entry point for us isn't a website. It's social media. Short-form video. Someone doing a room transformation that makes us think, "Wait, that's possible?" If Sara could do that kind of content and then link to the website — that's the bridge. The website is the destination, but she needs a different vehicle to get people like me there.
Also, the fluorescent light thing? If there was a post or a video that just said, "Your room feels like a hospital because of your lighting. Here's what to do for under ten euros" — I'd watch that. I'd share that. And then maybe I'd check out who made the video. That's how you get to guys like me. Not through the front door of a design website.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time and your honesty. Your feedback is genuinely valuable and will help shape how this service evolves. I really appreciate you sharing your perspective.
Kwame: No worries. Good luck with it. And tell Sara to make the TikToks. Seriously.
Post-interview notes
The belonging verdict: Kwame does not feel the website is for him, and no amount of website redesign would change that. This is not a failure of the website — it is a demographic reality. His exclusion is not hostile or resentful; it is simply a matter of relevance. He does not see himself in the imagery, the scenarios, or the life stages described. Crucially, he acknowledges the website is well done and would recommend it to others — his personal exclusion coexists with genuine respect for the service.
The pricing reaction: His assumed price for interior design was one thousand to three thousand euros. Eighty euros surprised him positively and brought the concept into the realm of things he could theoretically afford. He did not raise quality concerns unprompted, though when asked directly, he acknowledged the price might seem "too cheap" to some. Visible pricing was unanimously praised — he would leave any site that hides prices.
The emotional section: "Wherever you're starting from, that's okay" was received as genuine but not personally relevant. He does not feel shame or embarrassment about his room — he feels nothing about it. The section speaks to people who already have an emotional relationship with their space, which Kwame does not. However, he made a striking observation: "You can't miss what you've never seen" — suggesting his indifference might be a product of never having been shown an alternative, not a fixed preference.
The couples section: Registered but not relevant. He skipped over it mentally as a scenario that does not apply to him.
The deliverable clarity: Specific deliverables (PDF, shopping list, layout plan) increased his respect for the service. He values knowing what he would receive and applies this standard to all purchases. The deliverable specificity made the service feel more legitimate.
The authority balance: The warmth-authority combination works. He described Sara as "a friend who actually knows things" — precisely the positioning the website intends. The design reasoning in portfolio case studies would increase his trust. He wants to understand why, not just see results.
The portfolio: The zero-budget transformation was the single most attention-getting element. Before-and-after content with visible constraints is the only content format that might reach him. He specifically wants to see rooms like his — small, minimal, rented — transformed.
The action barrier: The fundamental barrier is not price, trust, or website quality — it is relevance. Interior design does not exist as a category in Kwame's life. The barrier is pre-awareness: he does not know he has a problem, because he has never seen the solution. His analogy to fitness (not knowing what eating well looks like until someone showed him) is the most important insight from this interview.
The referral test: He would recommend the website to his sister and others he knows who care about their spaces — a seven to seven and a half out of ten. For himself, a two out of ten. This gap (7.5 vs. 2) is the largest referral-to-personal-action gap in the research and precisely defines Kwame's position: he recognises value he does not personally need.
The social barrier: Kwame identified a gendered social barrier that the website does not address: in his peer group, caring about interior design is coded as feminine and would invite ridicule. This is distinct from the emotional barriers (shame, embarrassment) the website acknowledges. It is a social-identity barrier — the fear of being seen as a certain kind of person for caring about this.
The content channel insight: Kwame's single most emphatic recommendation is short-form video content (TikTok, Instagram Reels). He articulated this clearly: the website is the destination, but it needs a different vehicle to reach people like him. His specific pitch — "Watch what happens when a designer walks into a twenty-eight-year-old's rented room for the first time" — is a content concept worth exploring. He said it twice and returned to it in his closing comments.
Remaining gaps:
- No acknowledgement of transient/temporary living situations ("Even a temporary space can feel like yours")
- No imagery or examples featuring young men in rented rooms
- No social media content strategy to reach non-audience segments who would never visit a website
- No messaging that normalises men caring about their space without coding it as feminine
- The "fluorescent light" micro-content idea: practical, viral-potential content that solves a specific problem and builds awareness before demanding engagement with a full service